1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method for treating skin wound sites via sutures. More particularly, the present invention relates to a suturing method and/or suture construction and/or suture kit for outfitting or adorning a skin wound site by way of sutures of variously colored/patterned sutures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A suture is a threadlike medical device that doctors, and especially surgeons, use to hold skin, internal organs, blood vessels and all other tissues of the human body together, after they have been severed by injury or surgery. The threadlike devices typically have relatively high tensile strength; are non-toxic, non-wicking, and hypoallergenic. Further, they typically have a high degree of flexibility and easy to work with so that suture sites may be quickly attended to, and sutures may be quickly knotted.
State of the art, non-absorbable sutures are typically formed from polyethylene or other high strength polymeric materials and come in a limited variety of colors; usually black or blue/violet. When outfitted upon an external suture site, the lack of color variety or the limited black/blue color scheme leaves patients with a visibly unattractive wound and treatment structure. The prior art that addresses colored sutures for wound treatment is limited in scope. Some of the more pertinent art relating to colored suture constructions and/or other means for adorning a skin wound site are briefly described hereinafter.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,382,715 ('715 Patent), which issued to Davis, discloses a Surgical Suture. The surgical suture according to the '715 Patent comprises a coal tar preparation rendering the suture antiseptic and dyeing the same in a variety of colors, including yellow, violet, blue, scarlet, green, orange, and indigo. The colors are provided, in part, so that the user may more readily identify the type of suture by imparting to the suture a particular dye/color.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,418 ('418 Patent), which issued to Wasson, discloses a Surgical Suture. The surgical suture according to the '418 Patent is designed for ligating, tying or suturing two sutures simultaneously with a single maneuver. An eyeless needle is swaged to an end of a main suture section. The main suture section ends are fused portions of two separate strands of suture material. The separate strands form an intermediate portion of the main suture section between fused portions. Alternatively, the main suture section may have a plurality of intermediate separate suture strand portions connected to each other by fused portions. Marking bands are located at the junctions of the fused portions with the intermediate separate strand portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,755 ('755 Patent), which issued to Vauquois, discloses a Surgical Ligature. The surgical ligature according to the '755 Patent is a surgical ligature in which a sterile thread has a surface on which is a succession of areas, for example, lines or dots, of contrasting shades, whereby at least one of the shades appears dark through a film of blood and at least one of the shades appears light through a film of blood. Such a ligature can readily be seen by the surgeon through the blood and against the background of the organ being stitched.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,393 ('393 Patent), which issued to Yasnitsky et al., discloses an Absorbable Surgical Suture Material. The absorbable surgical suture material of the '393 Patent is based on monocarboxycellulose. A method for producing said material consists in that cellulose threads are first threaded with nitrogen oxides, then for 0.5 to 2.0 hours treated with a 0.5-2.0-percent solution of a salt of a transition metal with a coordination number not less than 4 in a suitable solvent, and after this treated for 0.5 to 2.0 hours with a 1.0-2.0-percent solution of a polydentate complexing agent in a suitable solvent. Various suture colors are disclosed in the '393 Patent, including sutures of various shades of green, yellow, and gray.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,029,806 ('806 Patent), which issued to Cerwin et al., discloses a Package for Double Armed Sutures. The suture package according to the '806 Patent includes a base panel with a needle park and a plurality of pockets having plural compartments stacked in the Z direction. The package is suitable for containing and dispensing a plurality of double-armed sutures during time-critical surgery and promotes tangle-free dispensing by winding the sutures through the compartments in a serpentine manner to avoid suture-to-suture interaction. Spatial separation of the needles in the needle park and color coding of the sutures allows for easy identification of the individual sutures during dispensing and when tying off the sutures during surgery.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,610,071 ('071 Patent), which issued to Cohn et al., discloses a Suture System. The suture system according to the '071 patent includes a plurality of double-stranded needles connected in sequence with a single-stranded needle at each end. The double-stranded suture needles incorporate two suture strands into a single needle. The suture strands may be of varied coloration to generally aid the user and more particularly to facilitate the implantation of valve prostheses.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,626,865 ('865 Patent), which issued to Prisell, discloses a Method and Device for Marking Surfaces. The method and device according to the '865 patent indicate the periphery line of a patch of an optionally resilient surface layer of a substrate object which patch is intended to be removed in a step, which may cause a change of the appearance of the surface. The method comprises the application on the surface of an adhesive mask, comprising an outer, “negative: and/or optionally an inner, slat “positive” mask component, comprising one or more layers of a sheet material, which can be brought to adhere to the surface of the object.
The negative mask comprises a main opening with a borderline, which forms an inner borderline of the mask, and the positive mask comprises a slab with a borderline, which forms an outer borderline of the mask, said inner and/or outer borderlines having essentially the shape of the intended periphery line of the patch of the surface layer intended to be removed, said main opening of slab having circular or preferably elongated, non-circular shape, preferably with a ratio of lengthwise extension on transverse extension of at least 2 or at least 3 and optionally at most 10.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,719 ('719 Patent), which issued to Grafton, discloses a High Strength Suture with Colored Trace at One End. The '719 Patent describes a high strength abrasion resistant surgical suture material with improved tie down characteristics that is color coded for visualization and identification purposes. The suture features a multifilament cover formed of strands of ultra high molecular weight long chain polyethylene braided with polyester, nylon or a bioabsorbable material.
Selected nylon fibers in the cover are provided in a color contrasting with the other cover fibers to provide an identifiable trace. The cover surrounds a core formed of twisted strands of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene. The suture, provided in a #2 size, has the strength of #5 Ethibond, is ideally suited for most orthopedic procedures, and can be attached to a suture anchor or a curved needle. The identifiable trace preferably is provided along one half of the length of the suture, so that when the suture is loaded onto a suture anchor, for example, the two legs of the length of suture on either side of the suture anchor can be readily identified.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,029,490 ('490 Patent), which issued to Grafton et al., discloses a High Strength Suture with Coating and Colored Trace. The '490 Patent also describes a high strength abrasion resistant surgical suture material with improved tie down characteristics that is color coded for visualization and identification purposes. The suture features a multifilament cover formed of strands of ultra high molecular weight long chain polyethylene braided with polyester, nylon or a bioabsorbable material.
Selected nylon fibers in the cover are provided in a color contrasting with the other cover fibers to provide an identifiable trace. The cover surrounds a core formed of twisted strands of ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene. The suture, provided in a #2 size, has the strength of #5 Ethibond, is ideally suited for most orthopedic procedures, and can be attached to a suture anchor or a curved needle.
The colored strands/sutures of the foregoing disclosures are intended to operate primarily for the health care provider's benefit. The prior art thus perceives a need for a suturing method whereby patients may be able to select a suture color for their particular wound as a means to improve or enhance the patient's mental or emotional reaction(s) to wound treatment and to shift focus away from the wound per se and more toward wound treatment via wound adornment as directed or aided through patient input and the availability of a wide range of suture colors. The present invention further contemplates variously color-demarcated banded sutures, whereby the bands can be used to help the user with proper suturing technique. As the prior art is silent on this type of suture construction, the present invention attempts to address this need.